Crab: the standard X-ray candle with all (modern) X-ray satellites

Abstract

Various X-ray satellites have used the Crab as a standard candle to perform their calibrations in the past. The calibration of XMM-Newton, however, is independent of the Crab nebula, because this object has not been used to adjust spectral calibration issues. In 2004 a number of special observations were performed to measure the spectral parameters and the absolute flux of the Crab with XMM-Newtons EPIC-pn CCD camera. We describe the results of the campaign in detail and compare them with data of four current missions (Integral, Swift, Chandra, RXTE) and numerous previous missions (ROSAT, EXOSAT, Beppo-SAX, ASCA, Ginga, Einstein, Mir-HEXE).